ford
A shallow place in a river or stream where it can be crossed on foot or by vehicle.
Etymology
From Old English ford, from Proto-Germanic *furduz, from PIE *per- "forward, through" via the suffixed form *pr̥-tu- "a crossing." The PIE root denotes forward motion and passage. The same root appears in Latin portus "harbour" (a place you pass through) and German Furt. The word is extremely common in English place names — Oxford, Bradford, Stratford.
The Journey: *per- → ford
*per- / *pr̥-tu-
*furduz
ford
ford
ford
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *per-. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word |
|---|---|
| Dutch | voord |
| Latin | portus (harbour) |
| Welsh | rhyd (ford) |
| German | Furt |
| Old Norse | fjǫrðr (fjord) |
Did You Know?
Oxford means "ox-ford" — a place where oxen could wade across the Thames. The same element appears in over 60 English place names: Bradford (broad ford), Stratford (street ford), Stamford (stone ford). Old Norse fjǫrðr "fjord" is a cognate — a fjord is a deep inlet you can cross.
This word descends from the Proto-Indo-European root *per-. See the full root page for descendant trees, sound law references, and scholarly discussion.